Straight water will not cause an engine to overheat. In fact, it can make overheating cars run cooler because water has greater thermal capacity than glycol. Most race cars run straight water, or just a little bit of glycol or an anti-corrosion/water pump lubricant like "Water Wetter" (which is useless when used with normal antifreeze concentration). Corrosion is rarely an issue with race cars since the engines are torn down so frequently. They don't sit around with water in the coolant passages.

Your car probably overheated because there was a big void in the system. Most systems require slow, careful fillilng and then some time to self bleed. If they are filled to fast, air can be trapped, which can cause overheating.

Duke